Industry Focus · Construction
Accounting built for contractors & builders
Job costing, WIP reporting, retainage tracking and AIA billing — built for general contractors, subcontractors, developers and specialty trades, from bid to final close-out.
15+
Clients (contractors & builders served)
Audit-Ready
(reconciled and current, every single month)
15+ Yrs
years helping builders master their job costs
Platforms We Manage
Your systems, reconciled — not replaced
Wherever you run your projects, we plug in and keep your job costs accurate every month.
6+
Platforms supported
0
Systems you need to switch
Procore
Job cost sync, change order tracking, budget vs. actual by project.
Buildertrend
Draw schedules, client billing and subcontractor payment sync.
CoConstruct
Selection allowances, change order and budget reconciliation.
QuickBooks
Job-level class tracking, WIP schedules, multi-project consolidated books.
Sage 300 CRE
Job cost ledgers, equipment costing, union payroll integration.
Foundation Software
Certified payroll, union fringe tracking, job cost GL sync.
Services by Client Type
Purpose-Built Accounting For Every Phase and Project
General Contractors
Tracking costs by project phase and cost code
Tracking subcontractor payments and lien waivers
Work-in-progress schedules showing job completion %
Reporting packages for your bonding company
Profit & loss and margin trends by job
Overhead allocation and backlog analysis
Subcontractors & Specialty Trades
Preparing your pay applications
Tracking retainage and release schedules
Certified payroll and prevailing wage compliance
Union fringe benefit reporting
Profit & loss reporting by job
Tracking actual costs against your bids
Residential & Custom Home Builders
Preparing draw schedules for lender submissions
Tracking change orders and selection allowances
Cost tracking for spec and model homes
Warranty reserve reporting
Margin reporting by job
Backlog and pipeline forecasting
Workflow & Cadence
Bookkeeping built around how you actually build
| WORKFLOW | CADENCE | WHAT'S COVERED |
|---|---|---|
|
Bookkeeping & AP/AR
|
WEEKLY |
•
Sorting every expense by job and cost code
•
Entering and paying vendor bills on time
•
Tracking subcontractor payments
•
Logging change orders as they happen
|
|
Reconciliation & Compliance
|
WEEKLY |
•
Matching bank and credit card records
•
Keeping lien waivers organized and on file
•
Filing certified payroll and prevailing wage paperwork
•
Tracking retainage held on each job
|
|
Financial Reporting
|
MONTHLY |
•
Clear profit & loss, balance sheet and cash flow
•
Progress reports for every active job
•
Comparing budget to actual spend
•
Reports ready for lenders and bonding companies
|
|
Job Costing & WIP
|
AS NEEDED |
•
Tracking true costs by job and cost code
•
Spotting over- or under-billing early
•
Seeing the cost impact of change orders
•
Catching shrinking margins before they hurt
|
|
Billing & Draws
|
PER DRAW |
•
Preparing pay applications for you
•
Submitting draw requests to owners or lenders
•
Tracking and releasing retainage
•
Sending accurate, on-time invoices
|
Onboarding
Live on your books in under two weeks
Discovery & systems audit
We map your active jobs, cost codes and current software.
Chart of accounts & job cost setup
Clean, cost-code-based chart of accounts built or repaired.
Historical catch-up
Books brought current, discrepancies resolved job by job.
Ongoing monthly close
Reconciliations, WIP schedules and reporting on schedule.
Monthly strategy review
A standing session on job performance and planning.
How We Compare
The real problems a generic firm won't solve
| CLIENT PROBLEM | GENERIC OUTSOURCED FIRM | SMARTLEDGER |
|---|---|---|
|
True margin visibility, by job and by phase
Blended reporting hides which jobs and phases actually make money.
|
One blended P&L across all jobs
|
Live margin visibility by job, phase & cost code
|
|
WIP schedules that catch margin fade early
Over/under billing rarely gets tracked until it is a cash crunch.
|
No WIP or percentage-of-completion tracking
|
Monthly WIP schedules that surface fade before it hurts
|
|
Cash flow you can plan the next bid around
No forward view, so bidding and mobilization guess blind.
|
No forward cash flow visibility
|
Rolling cash flow projections tied to backlog
|
|
Bond-ready books, all year, not just at renewal
Books get cleaned up once a year under surety deadline pressure.
|
Year-end scramble before bonding renewal
|
Bond-ready books, reconciled every month
|
|
One system of record for every job document
Pay apps, lien waivers & change orders scattered, never tied to the ledger.
|
Documents scattered, untracked
|
Every document attached & tied to its job entry
|
|
Multi-entity reporting across every LLC and JV
Separate entities mean separate spreadsheets to reconcile by hand.
|
Each entity tracked in its own silo
|
Consolidated reporting across every entity, in one view
|
Trusted Partner
Why contractors & builders choose Smartledger
Growth changes what your books need. We’re built to keep pace with every deal, entity and milestone.
Job Cost Specialists
Our team lives in cost codes and WIP schedules, not generic ledgers.
Construction Focus
Job costing and percentage-of-completion accounting is our core specialty, not a side offering.
Maker-Checker Review
A second reviewer verifies every close before it reaches you.
Secure Cloud Systems
Bank-grade encryption and access controls protect every record.
24-Hour Response
Questions get a same-or-next-business-day answer, always.
Testimonials
A full-stack finance function,
built around your business.
"Our bookkeeping finally matches how we actually run jobs."
SmartLedger set up cost-code bookkeeping across a dozen active projects, so every bill and payment lands on the right job automatically.
"Our accountants catch job cost problems before we do."
Their monthly WIP schedules and job costing reports flagged margin fade on a project a full month before we would have caught it ourselves.
"Our books are finally accurate, job by job."
SmartLedger reconciles our accounts and closes our books every month with real job-level accuracy, not one blended number for the whole company.
FAQ’S
The Answers You're Probably Looking For
The questions that matter most when choosing a finance partner — clearly answered.
How do you set up bookkeeping for multiple active jobs?
We build a cost-code chart of accounts that sorts every bill, payment and payroll entry by job and phase, so your daily bookkeeping stays organized no matter how many projects are running at once.
How do you handle our monthly bank and account reconciliations?
We reconcile every bank and credit card account each month, matching transactions against job records, so your books close clean and every dollar is accounted for.
Can you prepare our WIP schedules and percentage-of-completion reporting?
Yes. We prepare monthly WIP schedules with over/under billing analysis, so margin fade and cash timing issues surface early instead of at year-end.
What financial reports do we get each month?
You get a profit & loss, balance sheet and cash flow statement, plus job-level cost reports and budget-vs-actual comparisons, so you always know where every project stands.
How quickly can you take over our books and be fully caught up?
Most contractor clients are fully onboarded and current within two weeks, including historical catch-up by job, so your very next close arrives clean and on schedule.